BOJ's Kuroda: have taken all steps needed for inflation goal
The Bank of Japan has taken all necessary steps to meet its 2 percent inflation target in two years and will try to minimize the market disruption from its massive bond buying, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday.
Kuroda conceded that some people doubted the BOJ could meet its inflation goal and said unexpected events could mean it would take longer than planned, but said the BOJ would maintain its new policy framework for as long as needed.
"We feel we've taken all necessary steps to achieve 2 pct inflation in two years, but it's not appropriate to limit our policy to two years," Kuroda said in a speech.
"We will not hesitate to adjust policy in the future as the economy is like a living thing and there are both upside and downside risks."
The BOJ stunned global financial markets last week, promising to inject about $1.4 trillion into the economy in less than two years by buying government debt and risk assets.
Kuroda acknowledged the scale of purchases was so large that it could affect bond markets, but was confident the BOJ could smoothly buy the debt it needs.
The BOJ would also monitor consumer spending, capital expenditure and exports to gauge the impact of its policy and make adjustments when needed.
Kuroda last week committed the BOJ to open-ended asset buying and said the monetary base would nearly double to 270 trillion yen ($2.71 trillion) by the end of 2014 in a shock therapy to end two decades of stagnation.
($1 = 99.5500 Japanese yen)
(Editing by John Mair)